just saw it on tv..... anyone else?

no blend, not yet. at work and had a look at some news sites but nothing yet.

Yeah, it's on every Australian news website...well, 7, 9, 2, SBS, SMH, The Age, AFR, The Australian...not 10 or Skynews yet ;)

If you go look in the Indonesian scraper forum they've got a thread on it with some pics.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040909/capt.jak10709090456.indonesia_blast_jak107.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3639922.stm

Massive blast at Jakarta embassy

Six people are believed to have died in a massive blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, the Australian prime minister has said.

John Howard said it was thought the explosion was a car bomb.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Jakarta says the blast left a large crater in the ground and damaged nearby buildings and motor vehicles.

Helicopters, ambulances and police units are at the site, in Kuningen, a district to the south of the city.

Witnesses and reporters say they saw at least three bodies lying lifeless after the blast, which happened at about 1030 local time (0330 GMT).

Mr Howard told a news conference in Melbourne "the number of fatalities could be six. We can not at this stage be certain, but the evidence today indicates that it was a car bomb."

Local radio reports scores injured.

Our correspondent says there has been no word from Indonesian authorities on the blast yet, but the assumption is that it was a bomb.

She says the embassy itself is well protected by a security fence, and reports from inside suggest it did not sustain a lot of damage.

A huge crowd of onlookers has massed, and plumes of smoke are rising into the air above the site of the blast.

Bloody history

Our correspondent says Western embassies recently raised their security alerts, saying that they had credible intelligence that an attack on the Indonesian capital was planned.

It looks now as though their worst fears may have been realised, she says.

In August 2003, 12 people including the suicide bomber died in a bomb blast outside Jakarta's Marriott hotel - close to the spot of Thursday's explosion.

In October 2002, 202 people died in twin bombings on the island of Bali. Most of the dead were Australian.

The militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah is widely blamed for both bombings, and our correspondent says it is likely to be the primary suspect behind this suspected attack.

The blast also comes ahead of presidential elections on 20 September.

Yes, we have a discussion about this in Indonesia forum.
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=132763

As a correction, the bomb is located in front of Plaza 89. Not Australian embassy. But this plaza is located just opposite Australian Embassy.

Oh god. This is really2 make me sad. The bomb detonate at 10:30 which is PEAK HOUR at a main street that is always have TRAFFIC JAM. If you watch the online videos at The Age you can see there's many motor bikes and cars. Innocent people got killed. Damn those terrorist!!!!! What do they want actually? The economy just get better again. People can work again. *sigh*

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378085,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378091,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378092,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378093,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378097,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378098,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378099,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378100,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378101,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,378103,00.jpg

fuk my uncle is in jakarta right now hope hes ok

fuck dunkin donuts in the last pic is pretty badly damaged....... oh the humantiy

hope ure uncle is ok dude ;)

Howard will no doubt get a boost in the polls from this. He looked very statsman like in his press confrence, while Latham looked like he was caught in headlights in his.

thx perthguy! OMg how can someone be so inhumane in destroying dunkin donuts

Howard will no doubt get a boost in the polls from this. He looked very statsman like in his press confrence, while Latham looked like he was caught in headlights in his.
Yeah just watch Howard and Ruddock milk this disaster for all its worth no doubt they will blame Latham and the ALP for it.
I wonder what would be the reaction if there ever was a terrorist attack on Australian soil like the Spanish one?

Yeah just watch Howard and Ruddock milk this disaster for all its worth no doubt they will blame Latham and the ALP for it.

Lol.
You're so amazingly biased. As bad as the pollies themselves.

Yeah just watch Howard and Ruddock milk this disaster for all its worth no doubt they will blame Latham and the ALP for it.
I wonder what would be the reaction if there ever was a terrorist attack on Australian soil like the Spanish one?

I don't think they'll actively milk this for support, they would have seen the lesson Madrid offers. May analysts have drawn links to Madrid, both nations were heading into an election, both nations had an opposition that was promising to withdraw from Iraq. The Spanish government did try to use the attacks for political gain, and were thrown out, many say, as a direct result.

Dammit, I gotta tell u I was hoping the election would be free of terrorism, this just muddies the waters for both sides.

Glad no Aussie were hurt, But tragic none the less.
I hope they pay for this.

Lol.
You're so amazingly biased. As bad as the pollies themselves.
No Im not Im just telling it the way it is Mate! Ruddock was already trying to link the Russian hostage crisis to the ALP last week.

It was pretty big news over here with live cross-overs to Jakarta, and this morning being the main news item on the radio.

We can say the attack was directed against Australia, but really what were these people trying to do? It appears that only Indonesian people were murdered in this attack- what do the murderers have against Indonesians?

Anyway about the election, hopefully this can keep out of the campaigning, but more importantly we hope that something like Madrid doesn't rear its ugly head in the lead-up to it.

Someone bless the souls of those dead and injured.

It was against Australia, it was just that the embassy building is so well fortified that there wasn't more damage to it. The bomb was right out the front of the embassy, but look at the damage to the neighbouring buildings.



Billy the Kid, you continue to amaze, it's almost laughable that you don't even see it.

Sick minded terrorists. They don't realise that they are killing their own people. :bash:

Glad no Aussie were hurt, But tragic none the less.
I hope they pay for this.

Unfortunately that is not the case, as a five-year old Australian girl is in a critical condition from the blast and her Indonesian mother was killed.

It was against Australia....

According to news reports today, the police had recieved a general warning that western embassies would be attacked if the Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir of Jemaah Islamiah wasnt released from prison.
I dont know if you could attribute the attack soley to an attack on Australia.
As was the case in Bali. The terrorists thought they were targetting Americans and only realised afterwards that most of the civilians targetted were not.

^^Well, I think they knew they were attacking Australian interests in this case, considering that the car bomb exploded 4m from the front gates and that those who were killed included embassy security guards, an embassy gardener, as well as people who were queuing at the front of the embassy to get Australian visas and passports.

It is incredibly tragic that the victims of these terrorists acts have by and large been innocent Indonesians, going about their daily lives. :(

^^Well, I think they knew they were attacking Australian interests in this case, considering that the car bomb exploded 4m from the front gates and that those who were killed included embassy security guards, an embassy gardener, as well as people who were queuing at the front of the embassy to get Australian visas and passports.

It is incredibly tragic that the victims of these terrorists acts have by and large been innocent Indonesians, going about their daily lives. :(

It was definitely targetted against Australian interests. I suppose you could describe the attack as international terrorism with domestic motives.
And it is tragic that the victims are those who are in no way involved.

An interesting note:
The number of international terrorist attacks at the moment is at a 30 year low (domestic terrorism not included ie. Breslan, ETA in Spain, etc).
1987 had the highest number of (international terrorist) attacks and with the exception of 2001 the number of casualties has remained more or less stable for 30 years.

They don't realise that they are killing their own people. :bash:

They do, they don't care...

yeah, as long as they kill someone of the opposition they go crazy already.

This is a very upsetting story in the Sydney Morning Herald that I read today. :(

Four-year wait to unite family ends in cruel separation

For four years, David Norman fought immigration authorities to enable his daughter and her Indonesian mother to live in Australia.

"Dave loved them so much, he wanted them with him, he never gave up," a friend said.

Finally, on September 1, Mr Norman's five-year-old daughter, Elisabeth Manuela Bambin Musa, known as Manny, was granted Australian citizenship. Surely now, her mother would be able to come too.

But at this moment of longed-for triumph, fate cruelly intervened when Elisabeth and her mother went to the Australian embassy in Jakarta to get the girl's passport, only to become victims of Thursday's bomb. Caught in the blast as they stood in a queue at the embassy's main gate, 27-year-old Maria Eva Kumalawati was among the nine people killed, while her daughter was shockingly injured.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/09/10/musuone_wideweb__430x380.jpg
Their little girl: Elisabeth with her mother, Maria.

By Friday night, Mr Norman, a 25-year-old Marrickville police constable, was by his daughter's side in the intensive care unit of a Singapore hospital after Elisabeth was flown from Jakarta in a critical but stable condition.

"My focus is on getting on a plane as quickly as possible so I can be at the bedside of my daughter, Manny, to ensure she gets all the love and care she needs," Mr Norman said in a statement released by NSW Police before he boarded an aircraft in Sydney with his mother.

Only three weeks ago, Manny had been splashing in the surf in Bali, where the family had spent a month together on a holiday, rare moments of happiness in lives torn asunder by immigration policies which prevented Elisabeth and her mother visiting Mr Norman in Australia.

"Immigration were afraid they wouldn't go home, that they would stay in Australia," said a close friend of Mr Norman who asked not to be identified.

"Dave lobbied his local members, Bob Carr and Laurie Brereton, anyone who could help. He finally got them visas to visit, but once they went home, Dave said they [Immigration] refused them [more] tourist visas.

"The last time Maria and Manny were here was about two years ago. Maria got in then only because an uncle and aunt ... in Italy had sponsored her as an immigrant and she was able to enter Australia on an Italian passport.

"The authorities recognised Dave as the father - the baby was 100 per cent his. That's why Manny finally got a [Australian] passport."

After the explosion rescuers found the unconscious girl by the body of her mother. Elisabeth's injuries were so severe, it was at first thought she was dead.

Elisabeth did not regain consciousness until many hours later while doctors fought to stabilise her condition. At 11am on Friday, she was flown to Singapore, where she was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth children's hospital.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/09/11/musutwo_narrowweb__200x215.jpg
[i]Elisabeth being carried unconscious from the scene of the blast.

"Her condition is stable," said Dr Philippe Barrault of the medical evacuation service International SOS. "She is semi-conscious, although she is not responding to all communications.

"I will say that chances of a full recovery are quite high."

He said Elisabeth had abdominal injuries and two pieces of shrapnel had been taken from her body.

The friend said Mr Norman, who graduated as a NSW police constable last December, had photographs of Manny and her mother "everywhere in his apartment".

"Dave was forever going to Indonesia to see them, two, three times a year, sometimes more often. Whenever we'd meet, he'd tell me about Manny."

Mr Norman and Ms Kumalawati, the youngest of six children, met in Indonesia when he was 19. A year later, Elisabeth was born in Indonesia. "It was a real love relationship," the friend said. "Dave didn't have any other girls. Just Maria."

He said that during one of their early visits, Mr Norman introduced his daughter and Ms Kumalawati to his parents and brothers and sisters. "They're a wonderful, strong family," the friend said.

In his statement, Mr Norman said he was grieving for "my partner, Maria".

"On behalf of Maria's family in Indonesia, I also want to thank people for their thoughts in the hours following her death," he said.